Article in Sidmouth Herald 31 January 2014
Red tape delays FolkWeek move.
FolkWeek
organisers have revealed that controversial plans for the festival to leave Its long-term
Bulverton base for Salcombe Hill will not happen this year. Bosses had hoped to relocate
the event's campsite to the beauty spot - and create a new music venue there - in time for
its 60th anniversary in August.
But red tape has meant the major change, which has garnered opposition from nearby
residents, cannot yet become a reality. The mooted move was granted a licence in December
but festival chiefs have been told they need planning permission.
Festival director John Braithwaite said the decision had been taken with festival-goers in
mind. FolkWeek's campsite will stay in Bulverton this summer along with the Festival
Clubhouse.
Mr Braithwaite said organising the 60th anniversary has been a 'mammoth enterprise' and
the focus is on bringing guests 'a special and memorable programme'. He added: "For
that reason, in 2014 we will be staying at Bulverton with our much loved and well
established campsite and clubhouse.
"To ensure that our customers and guests knew as early as possible, with absolute
certainty, what our plans were for this year, we set a deadline of end of January for any
changes to this area of the festival. Needing planning permission to go forward has pushed
the project past the deadline date. So that customers can book with certainty, we decided
to announce our intentions as early as possible, so that we can concentrate on giving
guests a blockbuster festival to remember."
"We are already feeling the excitement of this year's event, bringing, as it will, a
host of memories and new experiences for our guests in every part of the festival."
The move from Bulverton to a 13-acre site at Salcombe Hill was described as the biggest
change in the festival's history when it was made public in October.
More than 60 letters of objection were submitted to the district council when the
licensing application, to provide entertainment and refreshments into the early hours to
1,500 revellers, was considered.
Comment on the mudcat forum website on 2
February 2014 included the following:
Are we expected to believe that it has recently been discovered that the new site would
require a planning application as well as a licence application (for alcohol/entertainment
etc)? This would have been known probably a year or more ago given the number of people
who have been involved, including from the town council.
It is more plausible that the upbeat October announcement First public announcement of campsite move was
intended to be a dry run to gauge opinions and the strength of any opposition. This is
often done in planning for new homes on Green Belt or for contentious alterations to
existing buildings - let the first wave of criticism die down and then slip it through
when no-one is looking.
In October it was claimed that a final decision would be made by Christmas. In the latest
article this deadline slipped to the end of January - and with the need to obtain planning
permission being cited as the reason why the new deadline could not be met.